Fly fishing for bass

[freeflyin]

Alright all, I am sick of not being able to catch bass when I see them in the water and see them rising. I went down to the park right outside of Albany on Hwy. 20 and fished tonight for about an hour using a white and black popper, a large October Caddis, and (this may land me in hell) a rubber worm. Nothing was biting and there were bass everywhere. It was extremely frustrating and would love some help flyfishing for bass on the willie. Thanks guys and gals,
troy

 

[Troutier Bassier]

Use a smally Wolly Bugger.

 

[redhawk50]

Try a San Juan worm as well.

 

[Markcanby]

Crawdad flys are a must

 

[OnTheFly]

Hey freeflyin, you mentioned you saw them rising. Did you notice anything on the water they might have been eating?

 

[freeflyin]

I noticed there were a couple of hatches out there at the time. There were bugs everywhere; caddis, mayflys, etc. It was a pretty typical evening hatch but everything I know about bass is that they like big and disruptive patterns. I tried a popper and a leech pattern and the cheating rubber worm. I even tried a large oct. caddis imitation. I'm not 100% sure that all of the rising fish were bass but I'm assuming a good amount of them were, I also saw bass in the water as well. Anyhow, any help you can give me would be much appreciated. Thanks all,
troy

 

[OnTheFly]

Perhaps the fish were clewing in on the emergers just below the surface. I don't know much about the eating behavior of bass, but with trout the subsurface bug is the easier grab. If you can match it up, use floating line and let the fly sink for about ten seconds then retrieve in with slow, agonizing 2" strips. Or better yet, I'll bet a bass'll take a soft hackle. Try soft hackles with 4" retrieves like this: 1..pause..1.2.pause 1..pause 1.2.3. pause etc. If the fish are as active as you say then you'll have one on every cast once you find out what works.

 

[GDBrown]

Help with BASS on a fly!!!

Help with BASS on a fly!!!

I've been watching a show on Verizon FIOS TV called "The New Flyfisher". They have had several segments where they have been flyfishing for bass. If you can get someone to record one of the shows it will be very informative. It's my favorite show on TV. It comes on the WFN channel 317 or HD channel 597.

GD

 

[freeflyin]

Baaaaaaassssssssssss

Baaaaaaassssssssssss

Thanks for the advice fellas. I will try switching up my patterns some more and varying my strip. I have also watched some fly fishing for bass shows but most of the time they are on a lake which is just different than fishing on the willie as you know. thanks all,
troy

 

[Mike123]

I didn't know bass were so smart? :lol:
I've never had a problem getting pond largemouth to eat anything that pops and creates havoc on top water. Big purple leeches with heavy lead heads work well for me, and big poppers in green. But fishing the river is a lot different i guess... I'd go with a crawdad pattern.

 

[jleepga]

I've decided that I'm going to get into fly-fishing and as I've always enjoyed fishing for bass, I've been looking into good places to fly fish for bass. I've read some good things about Davis Lake for bass in the spring, but the material is usually dated 2007 or 2008. I was curious to see if anyone had any success fishing for bass in 2009? Thanks.

 

[Mike123]

I've fly fished for bass before at the ponds at the Leabanon dump before.
It was a blast! Caught some panfish too..
Poppers, big purple leeches and worms w/heavy lead heads work well.
So do mouse and frog patterns.
For me, bass fishing depends on water temp.. around Lebanon and Albany, I don't start fishing for bass until July, when the water really warms up. I like topwater action though. IMO a 6wt is perfect.

 

[jleepga]

Thanks for the input Mike! I spend a day or two a week down your way, what are some of your favorite bass holes down there if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Mike123]

Thanks for the input Mike! I spend a day or two a week down your way, what are some of your favorite bass holes down there if you don't mind me asking?

I'll give up bass holes anyday! hahaha...

The old Morse Bro's ponds on Berlin road, the ponds at the Lebanon dump are good(but illegal to fish if you get caught), the Lebanon Mill pond(if you have a boat), Foster and Green Peter res. I caught a 5lber out of Green Peter last time I fished it for trout. I only fish a few times a year for bass though. Usually when the weather is too hot to steelhead fish.

 

[TTFishon]

I've decided that I'm going to get into fly-fishing and as I've always enjoyed fishing for bass, I've been looking into good places to fly fish for bass. I've read some good things about Davis Lake for bass in the spring, but the material is usually dated 2007 or 2008. I was curious to see if anyone had any success fishing for bass in 2009? Thanks.

A friend of a friend caught these last year out of Davis Lake. I'm getting back into fly fishing this year just for Davis Lake Bass.
http://i456.photobucket.com/albums/qq290/tedfishmon/davisbass.jpg

 

[jleepga]

Thanks for the update TT! Do you know what time of year he was up there? I was thinking about heading up there sometime in May.

 

[TTFishon]

thanks for the update tt! Do you know what time of year he was up there? I was thinking about heading up there sometime in may.

6/25/09

 

[Mike123]

Dammm! Nice bucket mouths!

 

[TTFishon]

Dammm! Nice bucket mouths!

Yeah, I bet they were a blast on a flyrod. Especially with a barbless hook.

 

[leach laker]

My family used to camp at Davis Lake a lot before the fire. I was thinking of heading back this year and finding a new camping spot. This is a fly fishing only lake with, as I understand it, a growing bass population.

Has anyone fly fished for bass before? Anyone fished Davis? Any suggesions?